Microsoft Press Conference revealed much about their upcoming system like the official name ‘Xbox One‘ and that it would be released later this year in 2013. An extensive time (the first 30 minutes) was spent showing off the new interface, tech specs, system design and controller. The machine looks very robust and ‘strong’ like a tank – the new controller looks very similar to the old one but will have a new updated design — hopefully fixing any d-pad issues we’ve had over the years.
Microsoft presenters used buzzwords like ‘intelligent tv’ when talking about the new interface – trying to convince the audience of how great watching TV will be on the new Xbox One. Eventually Andrew Wilson from EA came out to announce that four of their games like FIFA, Madden, NBA LIVE and UFC would be coming to the Xbox One using a new engine called ‘Ignite’. Wilson also used buzzwords like ‘human intelligence’ and ‘true player motion’ during his presentation and showed what looked like in-game animated sequences.
Phil Spencer was up next and talked about Forza Motorsports 5 and how it would be an Xbox One launch title. Some pretty CGI cut-scenes for Forza Motorsports 5 were shown and then a teaser for a new IP called ‘Quantum Break‘ was revealed. Most important from Spencer’s presentation was that he said 15 exclusives would be coming to the Xbox One and 8 of them would be brand new titles. What are these games? Guess we’ll find out at E3 2013!
After teasing us about some upcoming video games Nancy Tellem and Bonnie Ross appeared on stage to announce a partnership with Steven Spielberg to bring an exclusive Halo TV show to the Xbox One as a ‘premium television experience’. We’re not show yet what this all means but you can bet that Microsoft will put all their bells and whistles into anything with the Halo brand name attached to it.
Finally Eric Hirschberg from Activision showed a behind the scenes featurette of the upcoming Call of Duty Ghosts video game along with a short CGI trailer full of beautifully animated cut scenes. We had a chance to see more and talk with the developers at Infinity Ward about the upcoming game Call of Duty Ghosts – be sure to check out our impressions video from that event.
Overall, Microsoft did a great job of building hype and anticipation all year leading up to this press conference. Unfortunately what we saw wasn’t all that exciting and felt like a huge teaser for the upcoming Microsoft E3 2013 press conference.
Call of Duty Ghosts Preview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAPEqTvGjWQ
Xbox One Press Conference Recap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOt58frr2MI